


When the sun comes up

by GotSmokes



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Basement Gerard Way, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Friends to Lovers, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Post-Apocalypse, Romance, Temporary Character Death, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:06:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23048248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GotSmokes/pseuds/GotSmokes
Summary: Mikey was his best friend, his confidant, the person he could turn to whenever he felt like the whole world was against him, and now, Mikey was gone-In a world where vampires lurk in the forest, Frank's best friend Mikey is taken. Fuelled by booze, anger, and grief Frank and Mikey's brother Gerard decide to hunt down the evil blood suckers to make them pay for everything they've done. Frank finds himself confiding in Gerard, and the pair become great friends until tragedy strikes that will tear them apart.
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Bells rang through the community as people poured out of the too small and too warm church. It was Sunday afternoon and church had just gotten out of session. Moms and dads with their children came out, laughing and smiling as if someone was telling jokes. It was the awkward time of year where summer temperatures ruled yet the leaves on the trees were transforming into vibrant shades of orange, yellow, and red. Frank had always hated going to church, he had to stuff himself in a too tight suit that he’s had since he was 14, and sit through endless murmurings and horrible singing from the church goers. The Priest was the worst of all, Father Ed, a tall lanky man who never learned how to smile. He was surprisingly young, only 38 and yet he was the sole member of their village that had the ability to have spiritual powers. The need for spiritual powers came from the fear of what was lurking in the forest, ready to strike and kill at any moment.

Frank stretched his arms over his head, his body stiff from having sat too long on hard wooden pews. A somber mood spread throughout the crowd as adults exchanged their light conversations to hushed whispers to each other about tomorrow’s “event”. Frank looked over his shoulder to see his mother and another mom in the community with their heads close together, sharing their worries. Frank sighed. He knew that the next few days were going to be hell with his mom’s constant worrying. But, she did have a reason to worry. Tomorrow night is a new moon and this is when the undead are at their strongest. Everyone would be in a bustle today and tomorrow to prepare their homes and village for the impending attack. Every new moon vampires wreaked havoc on their village, taking people and animals for blood, ruining houses, stores, and other belongings. Sometimes Frank wondered if vampires thought it was funny to fuck with people’s lives or if it was an adrenaline thing. He once accidentally punched a hole in the wall when he was excited so he could empathize. 

During the new moon night, vampires were invincible. No wooden stake would kill them, not even when it was dipped in holy water. It’s not like people could fight them off anyways, the speed and strength that comes with the new moon is out of this world, even by vampire standards. He heard that a vampire once tore someone in half with their bare hands. While it sounded like something out of a horror movie it also sounded kind of cool and scary. The vampires’ invincibility is why when the new moon came people hid in their houses clutching their loved ones so tight as if it was the last time they were ever going to be able to hold them. Which, in some cases turned out to be true. Frank wasn’t scared of the vampires as much as most people, his dad was in the army so they had a special underground panic room where the lock was 100% vampire proof. Frank always tried to convince his only friend Mikey to join them in the panic room but Mikey didn’t want to leave his brother, and his brother refused to leave the house. He had only met Gerard a handful of times but he knew whenever Gerard wasn’t working alongside Father Ed he was in his basement in his cramped room that had a musty scent. 

“Yo.” Frank lost his train of thought when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see Mikey with his natural deadpan expression. “Did you want to chill at my place later? I found an old box of movies in the attic and some of them look pretty cool”. Movies were a luxury ever since the war between vampires and humans began. Since Mrs. Way was a respected nurse before she was taken she had a lot of privileges which she passed down to her sons post mortem, such as having a TV and a VCR. 

Frank grinned. Honestly, anything to get him out of listening to his father bitch and complain about vampires sounded like a good time to him. “Fuck yeah, I’ll be there after dinner”. Mikey just nodded in response and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder before heading off towards his house. Mikey never said much which balanced greatly against Frank’s blabbering mouth.

The weird summer-fall heat was beginning to make Frank sweat through his black button up shirt, he squared his arms to fan under his armpits. His mom would kill him if she had to wash his church suit. Washing clothes was a daunting chore. it all had to be done by hand so Frank wore most outfits 3 or 4 times before his mom would begrudgingly agree to wash it. Usually when she complained about laundry she would tell stories of how people used to have machines to wash laundry. Hearing about the past was always weird to Frank, all he ever knew was life with vampires. He glanced over his shoulder at his parents who were engaged deep in conversation with the Toro’s, their son Ray had been taken about 5 years ago and ever since then they were always extremely paranoid on the night of the new moon. Frank knew the conversation wasn't going to be over soon so he began his walk home.

Their village was small enough that it only took Frank a maximum of an hour to walk from one side to the other. There were about 200 people living in the village and Frank’s parents knew every single one by name. Frank didn't care for most of the people, the only real friend he had was Mikey. He loosened his tie and undid the first 3 buttons of his shirt once he was far enough from the church, still trying to cool himself off. “Holy fuck” he murmured as sweat dripped down his neck, causing his black hair to stick uncomfortably. It’s times like these that he wishes he took his mom's advice and cut his hair. But it just looked way too badass.

Within a few minutes he reached his house. Since his dad was part of the army, they were given a larger house than most and it was detached from other houses. If you weren’t in the army, chances are you had a 2/3 bedroom house with only a wall between you and your neighbours. Some houses had a basement too, but not many. Space was limited in their town, every time the military tried to take new land vampires would fight back. So, they were stuck within their barriers, trying to accommodate the (surprisingly) growing population. 

The air inside of his house was no more cold than outside. Immediately Frank began to strip, tossing his clothes onto the porch floor haphazard before running upstairs to the single bathroom. He picked up the half full bucket they used for washing off the tile floor and splashed half it over his sweaty body. The water was strangely lukewarm. He groaned, of course when he wanted the water to be cold it would be fucking warm. Nonetheless, Frank took a bar of soap and scrubbed his body to rid himself of the stench. Much to his annoyance, as Frank scrubbed his body he noticed that it was so fucking warm that he was sweating again. He poured the rest of the water over his body. Sure enough, he could still fucking smell himself. Frank didn’t know how long he spent in the bathroom, trying to make himself not smell like the asscrack of a sumo wrestler when his blood went cold as he heard his mother scream.

“FRANK ANTHONY IERO JUNIOR!” Looks like his parents were home. Frank did a quick scan of his recent memories to see if there was anything he could have gotten in trouble for- oh fuck. His clothes. He groaned audibly and ran a hand through his dripping locks. His mom was going to hand his ass to him.

Sure enough, his mom was banging on the bathroom door moments later “Did you really just throw your good church clothes on the floor?! Do you know how hard it is to get stains out?! We can’t just be buying new clothes all the time!” Frank groaned, putting his head into his hands, his hair sticking to his forehead. 

He wrapped a towel around himself quickly before exiting and shooting his mom a shy, apologetic smile. “Yeah mom, I know I’m-” 

“Honestly! First you leave us and don’t tell us where you’re going, then you’re leaving your clothes all around to get dirty. I have enough stuff to do you know, I don’t need to be cleaning up after my 18 year old son. I’ll have you know when I was your age…” Frank tuned out the nagging of his mother. She had been a mother at 18, little Frank came 9 months to the date after his parents wedding. He had to bite down on his tongue to prevent himself from lashing right back out at her. God he couldn’t wait to go to Mikey’s.

“Yes yes mom, I know, I’m sorry.” He apologized without real meaning behind his words. “I get it, I’m a disappointment, I should be making something out of my life, yeah yeah I know.” He rolled his eyes as he walked towards his room to get changed before heading downstairs. Being 18, Frank knew he was expected to find a job and start a family. But he wasn’t interested in that shit, he just wanted to drink and watch people get ripped apart by zombies with Mikey. Even if he did get a job, there was no way in hell he was getting a wife and starting a family. Not only was he not mature enough, but he likes his women tall, flat chested, with a firm ass and a thick, long cock. 

He ignored his mom yelling at him more as he descended down the staircase to their damp and chilly basement. He could have flopped on the concrete floor then, letting the coldness spread through his body until he got goosebumps. However, the floor was gross and it was likely he would come face to face with a spider and there was no way in hell he was risking that. Frank spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the basement, and as soon as he was finished supper he excused himself from the table and headed towards Mikey’s house.

Mikey lived with his older brother, Gerard. Their dad died when they were both young, and their mom was taken about 2 years ago. Gerard and Mikey were close, they told each other everything and Frank couldn't deny that he was jealous of their tight bond. He didn’t have any siblings, and although he considers Mikey as a brother it’s not the same as having an actual brother. It had cooled drastically outside. For some reason the days loved to be scorching hot and the nights and early mornings were freezing. Frank shivered as he hugged his arms close to his body trying to conserve whatever body heat he could. If his mother knew he hadn't taken a jacket she would be so pissed.

He didn’t bother knocking on Mikey’s door, he just walked on in. Their house was dark and had this distinct smell of coffee and cigarette smoke. Frank knew that ever since the sympathy party stopped caring about the Way brothers their house had never been properly cleaned. When the community found out the Way boys were orphans they used to have someone go in and cook meals and clean up for the boys. But, time goes on and people just accept the Way brothers’ situation as normal.

Frank kicked off his shoes and headed towards the creepy basement that always reeked even more of cigarettes and coffee. Mikey was hanging out on the old worn out couch, and next to him Gerard was taking a long drag on his smoke. Frank tried not to look surprised, Gerard very rarely came out of his room whenever Frank was around. He didn’t know if Gerard secretly hated him or if he was just extremely introverted. It always surprised him to see how different Gerard acted at home than how he was in the community. Basement Gerard kept to himself and drew horror-esque drawings while chain smoking, but community Gerard was a member of the junior congregation who wore a clean black suit and smiled politely at everyone he met. Yeah, the same dude who drew zombies eating out people’s necks helped protect the community from being killed by vampires.

“Sup?” He greeted the brothers, stumbling on the bottom stair before flopping down on the couch on the opposite side of Mikey. Mikey gave him a nod as an acknowledgement and Gerard just took a long draw of his smoke. “So you said you found some movies? What kind are they?”

Mikey got up, and Frank adjusted himself so that he had his legs across the couch now, feet just touching Gerard’s thighs. Basement floors reminded him of spiders. “They’re these old ass horror movies, a lot of zombie ones. There’s even an old vampire one in here.” Mikey crouched next to a dusty box by the TV and picked out the first movie he saw. Frank heard from his parents how every household used to have movies and TVs, that they weren’t a luxury but a standard. Apparently people would even go to stores and pick out movies to rent for a night and watch them with their friends and family before returning them the next day or so. “There’s one here called Return of the Living Dead? Does that sound cool?” Frank hummed in agreement.

Mikey popped the film into the VHS player and turned the TV on the correct input before heading back to the couch. “Move your legs.” 

Frank shook his head. “Last time I spent time in this fucking basement I found a spider crawling up my jeans. Like hell I’m letting that happen again.”

Gerard raised an eyebrow. “You’re scared of spiders?”

“You’re not?”

Gerard stubbed his cigarette in the ashtray on the side table. “Why would I be? They’re just trying to co-exist in this world with us. I don’t see the need to be scared of them. Most of them don’t even bite or are venomous.”

“Dude, have you ever seen a spider? They’re the creepiest fuckers on the planet. I don’t know how you can sit here and defend them when they’re probably plotting to get in your ears and eat your brains while you’re sleeping.” 

“They’re not zombies, Frank, they’re just innocent creatures. Besides-” Gerard started before Mikey let out a loud groan.

“Who the fuck cares if spiders are creepy or not?” Mikey huffed before sitting down on the cold hard concrete. “I would rather spiders or zombies or whatever to come and eat my brains than to listen to you guys bicker about fucking spiders.” That shut both Gerard and Frank up. Frank pulled his knees to his chest and patted the spot between Gerard and him to let Mikey sit down. 

Mikey just ignored him and stared straight ahead. Gerard got up from the couch and went into his room which was just off the room they were currently in before coming out again with a sketchbook. Frank raised an eyebrow at him but Gerard didn’t say anything as he began to draw, his eyebrows furrowed in intense concentration.

The movie wasn’t bad, however it wasn’t like Frank had a plethora of films to compare it to. The only movies he had watched were either with Mikey or with his mom and dad (and with his parents it was always family friendly movies, not zombies eating people's brains). He had spent most of the movie watching Gerard anyways. The way his lip curled whenever he made a mistake, or the tilt of his head whenever he was trying to figure out the lighting. Frank couldn’t deny that he thought Gerard was hot, but Gerard was his best friend’s brother. Dating your best friend's sibling is totally against the dude code. “Can we watch another?” Frank asked and Mikey got up, taking the VHS out of the VCR and popping in another.

Frank heard a tearing noise and turned to Gerard who had a piece of paper outstretched towards him. Confused but intrigued, Frank took it and flipped it over. “It’s rushed so it isn’t anything great, but it's just to prove spiders aren't that scary and you’re just a wimp.” Gerard tucked his hair behind his ears as he spoke. The piece of paper showed a huge spider with hundreds of eyes, long fangs, and a furry body with a person dripping blood in its mouth, a look of pure agony on their face. 

Frank raised an eyebrow. “This spider is literally eating someone.” It was an impressive drawing no doubt, but didn’t help with his arachnophobia. 

Gerard rolled his eyes and reached over Mikey who had sat back down. “No, look.” He pointed to the creature in the spider's fangs and Frank could now see it was a zombie with rotting flesh on his face and legs. “He’s killing zombies and see,” He pointed to a figure in the background that was more shading than shape, “That’s you, the spider is killing zombies for you because you genetically mutated it to help fight in the zombie apocalypse. It’s like your guard dog but it’s a spider.”

Frank smiled a little bit. While the spider was still fucking creepy, it was also kind of cool to have a zombie eating spider. He looked closer at the photo and noticed a horde of zombies running from the spider, and he could pick out a smirk on his face in the drawing. “This is actually really cool, you’re really good at drawing.” He looked up at Gerard and then back down at the photo. “Can I keep this?”

Gerard shook his head and took it back. “It’s not that good, I’ll draw you up a better one and I’ll give you it.” Frank grinned at Gerard, realizing that this is the first proper conversation they have ever had.

Mikey rolled his eyes at the pair. “Come on guys you already missed the opening of the movie where dude got his throat ripped out by zombies.” Gerard sat back down on his end of the couch and Frank just ignored Mikey and went back to watching the movie. During the movie, Frank couldn't help but sneak glances over at Gerard every now and again. Gerard was drawing again, leaning into Mikey. Frank craned his neck to see what Gerard was drawing but it was so hard to do it without looking so obvious. He hoped that it was the “improved” (Frank thought it was already really fucking good) drawing of him and his guard spider.

-

“Frank come on! We don’t have time to be grabbing shit it’s almost midnight!” Frank’s father barked as he took Frank by the wrist. Frank tried to grab his MP3 so he could listen to music while down in the vampire-proof panic room but it was just out of his reach. Damn him and his short arms. 

The night of the new moon was always hectic, and Frank’s parents always wanted to be in the panic room a good half an hour before the alarm sounded. He let himself be dragged down a flight of stairs, and then lowered himself down a ladder. He watched his father coat the outside of the latch in holy water and grabbed his crossbow just in case. Instead of an arrow on the crossbow there was a wooden stake. It wouldn’t kill a vampire, not on the new moon night, but it would sure as hell slow them down enough for them to make a break for it. 

The panic room was dark, there was only one candle in the room to light. Frank was always terrified there was going to be spiders down there, but for some reason thinking of Gerard’s drawing helped him calm down a little bit. Frank pulled his knees to his chest and sat in the corner, his mom wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. She kissed the top of his head murmuring softly “Everything is going to be okay.” Frank knew everything was going to be okay, but he knew how nervous his mom got during this night so he wrapped his arms around her middle and laid his head on her shoulder, giving a nod.

It was silent in the panic room, no one dared to make a noise. Vampires had increased senses during this time. They would be able to hear the tiniest whimper as long as they were in a 10 feet radius, they could pick out any figure no matter how dark it was, and they could smell blood pumping in a person’s veins. 

The alarm rings, startling Frank with a jump, his mom stroked his hair and shushed him calmingly. At midnight an alarm was sounded from the church, signalling the vampires were coming. No matter how many times Frank heard that alarm it always made him sick to his stomach. He hoped tonight would be one of those nights where no one was taken. Believe it or not, people weren't taken often, and if they were it was only 1 or 2 a night. Frank supposed there were other human villages that were also being scouted for food. He nuzzled further into his mom’s shoulder, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He never worried about himself or his family during this night, he knew that their panic room would keep them safe. Mikey however, did not have a panic room. He was not safe. 

Frank didn’t know what he would do with himself if Mikey was taken. He shook his head, not allowing those thoughts into his mind. Mikey would be fine and tomorrow evening they would see each other at church, talking about God knows what. He began to pray silently, begging God to let Mikey and Gerard make it through the night.

-

The alarm went off again and startled Frank awake. He rubbed his eyes and realized that he had fallen asleep while praying. His eyes opened to the dark panic room where he could hear his parents beginning to wake up too. It was over. At 5am the alarm would ring signalling the end of the night, for some reason this was when a vampire’s powers began to fade. Frank supposed it had to do with the moon and sun. He stretched his legs and arms, thankful for once for his short limbs that could stretch out fully in such a small place. 

Frank’s father creaked open the door, double checking for any danger that could still be lurking before nodding to his family. Frank and his mom followed, and Frank stretched his arms over his head. His mom let out a heavy sigh and pulled Frank close. He leaned into her, enjoying how she played with his hair. He knew that his family would always be okay, but there was always this part of him that feared the worst. He didn’t know what he would do if his mom or dad (but mainly his mom) got taken. A wave of sorrow hit him as he remembered comforting Mikey when his mom was taken. Never before had Frank seen Mikey cry before, and he hoped that he would never have to see him cry again.

He frowned thinking about his best friend. Hopefully Mikey was okay.

-

Around 7pm that evening, everyone is ushered to the church to hear the news of what happened during the night. No one was allowed to leave their house before this, the reason being not to cause chaos or panic around not being able to find certain people. The Priest had visited Frank’s house that morning to make sure that all heads were counted for and no damage was done to their house or any belongings. It was routine, the Priest and some guys from the army survey the town for missing people and animals. It was now in the church that they would hear about who was taken and how many animals they lost.

Frank scanned the pews to try and find Mikey or Gerard but it was hard to see over everyone when you’re shorter than half the people there. He fiddled with his thumbs, ripping off slivers of his fingernails. His leg bounced, his anxiety peaking as he could not see either Way brother anywhere. His mom elbowed his side “Be still, Father is about to give the news.” He took a breath to calm himself but prepared to hear the words that would crush his soul.

The Priest, in his sparkling white robe stood at the podium and lifted his arms shoulder length. “I will ask everyone to stand as we bow our heads in prayer.” Frank murmured along with the prayer, trying his hardest not to fidget. He tried to look out of the corner of his eye to see if he could spot Mikey or Gerard. He still couldn’t and his mom elbowed him again for not keeping his head bowed.

“You may be seated.” The Priest declared once the prayer was over. Frank could have thrown up as he saw the Priest grab a piece of paper and begin to read. “First and foremost, we would like to acknowledge the livestock that were taken. The McGregorry’s lost 1 cow and 2 bulls. The Yetman’s lost 4 chickens, a horse, and 2 sheep. The Rogers’ lost two goats. The Ackerman’s lost 4 chickens and a rooster. Let us have a moment of silence to honour these beasts that helped feed and clothe our community.” Everyone was silent, but Frank could not stop the ringing in his ears and the sound of his panicked heart. He just knew that something had happened to Mikey and Gerard. He knew it. He began to feel dizzy.

“And now, for the people that were taken by the cruel creatures of the night.” Frank held his breath. “It is with sorrow that I report that a high number of people were taken last night. After each name is read I will pause for a moment of silence. I know it will be hard for some of you to hear these names, but please wait until the end of the list to excuse yourself.” The Priest took a deep breath. “Ethan Adams, age 45, loving husband and father, taken along with his wife Willow Adams, age 38. They leave behind a daughter, Lilah, age 19.” The Priest paused for a moment of silence.

“Jessica Colliers, a young wife and soon to be mother.” The Priest shook his head, it was always hard to hear that a pregnant woman was taken. “Age 23. She leaves morning her husband Richard, and her mother, Lydia.” Another silence.

“Riley Jenson, age 67, a hard working carpenter who built many houses that house our families. He left behind two sons, Mitchel and Lyle.” Silence.

“Isabella Tucker, age 16. She was a sweet young lady with a bright future ahead of her. She leaves to mourn her grandmother, Olive, and her older brother, Joshua.” Silence.

Frank couldn’t fucking take it anymore. Of course out of all last names to have, Mikey and Gerard’s had to begin with a fucking W. He couldn’t calm himself down, running his hands through his dark hair tugging on it slightly. “Finally,” Frank’s breath hitched as an impending sense of doom lingered over him. He wished with all his might that Mikey and Gerard had just skipped church that day, or maybe they were here but Frank couldn’t see them because well, he didn't know why but he couldn’t deal with what the alternative could be. “Our last victim of the night was poor Michael Way, age 19.” Frank’s head shot up, tears in his eyes. His mom placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. “He leaves to mourn his brother Gerard.” Frank couldn’t breath. He couldn’t even tell that people were moving around him, crying, hugging, and gossiping. Time seemed to stop and he sucked in a deep breath when he realized that he had stopped breathing. As he inhaled he choked on a sob, and his body began to tremble as he erupted into tears, burying his face into his hands. His mom rubbed his back soothingly and took him into her arms.

Mikey was his best friend, his confidant, the person he could turn to whenever he felt like the whole world was against him, and now, Mikey was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frank and Gerard get drunk and come up with a horrible idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is being safe during this pandemic. Enjoy!

Frank leaned forward, pressing his forehead to the pew in front of him, welcoming the cold wood on his skin. He closed his eyes as he tried to teleport himself anywhere but in the stuffy church, wearing his too tight black dress shirt and pants. He would welcome being eaten by vampires than to spend 5 more minutes here listening to Father Ed rant on and on about the hell vampires were headed, and the heaven that welcomed the poor souls who were killed. 

Mikey’s photo rested on a table in front of the priest's podium. It was taken about 3 years ago when Mikey and Frank had just entered high school. Mikey had his hair covering one of his eyes, over his glasses and there was only a slight upturn of a single corner of his lips. He looked like an absolute geek, but somehow, he managed to avoid being bullied all throughout school. Frank hadn’t had that luxury. He was shoved into any locker, cupboard, or closet that could fit him, which was a lot.

The church was lightly decorated, two white candles rested on either side of Mikey’s photograph and the table was covered with a white and gold cloth with intricate designs. Father Ed wore his full white robes which were required whenever someone had been taken. It had something to do with pleading for their eternal soul, Frank wasn’t sure he never paid much attention. Stood at the back near the tall wooden doors were 2 candle holders, each golden and the three candles were an eggshell white. These decorations were common for a funeral however many families would also pay half their life savings on flowers and a fancy coffin despite there not being a body. Frank never saw the point, and apparently Gerard didn’t either because he would have been the one to pay for it all. Mikey was dead, he wasn’t going to see if they had 100 roses lying in front of the table, or if they had cloth bows at the end of each pew. Mikey wouldn’t have cared for that stuff anyways, he would’ve called it tacky and would rather if they had just played his favourite songs and read comic books in his memory,

Frank pulled his forehead away from the pew to look over at Gerard who was sitting next to him. Other than Frank’s parents and a couple of Mikey’s friends from high school there was no one else there. Looking at Gerard he could see the damage Mikey’s death had wreaked on him. In the past 5 days since Mikey had been taken Gerard looked like he dropped at least 10lbs. His already lean body became skeletal. His cheeks were sunken in, showing off prominent cheekbones. Whenever Gerard leaned over Frank could practically count the vertebrae through his shirt. If that wasn’t bad enough, Gerard also looked pale, well paler than usual, his blue and purple veins were seen easily through his skin and the dark purple bags he wore around his eyes contrasted greatly. Frank wondered if Gerard had eaten or slept since Mikey died.

Since Mikey had been taken, Frank spent more time with Gerard, more often than not just chain smoking (he started after Mikey was taken) and sitting in silence as Gerard doodled away in his sketchbook. Frank didn’t mind the silence. Sometimes they watched movies together, and Frank’s mom would bring them meals to make sure both boys ate although Gerard never touched his. When they did talk, they didn’t talk about Mikey. It would always be some stupid shit like if a vampire bit a zombie would the zombie become some sort of vampire-zombie hybrid, or who would win in a battle of aliens versus vampires. In those moments Frank could forget for a second that his best friend was gone, that is until the empty spot on the couch next to him would catch his eyes, then it all came crashing back into him like it was the first time all over again.

Frank hadn’t realized he had been staring at Gerard until Gerard turned his head and met his eyes. If his hazel eyes hadn’t been so dull from grief Frank may have said they were beautiful. He reached out and patted Gerard’s knee to offer some form of comfort and gave him a small smile. In turn, Gerard broke his gaze and instead leaned against Frank slightly, their shoulders touching. 

“In His name, Amen.” The Priest ended his spiel, not like Gerard or Frank had been listening. Nonetheless, Frank repeated “Amen” before letting out a huge sigh.

Immediately, Frank’s parents came over and sat next to the grieving pair. “Hey honey, how are you?” His mom cupped his cheeks like he was a child needing comfort. He waved her hands away with a slight flush to his cheeks, mumbling that he was okay. She turned to Gerard and flashed her best pity smile “How about you sweetie? Are you ill, you don’t look well?”

Gerard offered a small smile to be polite. “I’m fine yeah, I just haven’t been sleeping well. Thank you, Mrs. Iero.” Frank knew that was a lie, but he didn’t call him out on it.

She gave a little chuckle. “Call me Linda, Gerard, you’re Frank’s friend. There's no need to be so formal.” Frank’s dad clamped a hand on her shoulder, interrupting the conversation.

“We should go now dear, let these two say their final goodbyes to Michael.” Linda leaned forward and hugged Frank, then hesitantly hugged Gerard. She was still a little unsure of him, mainly because he smelled horrid. Frank bid his mom and dad goodbye before looking back over to Gerard.

“It’s still so weird that, well, you know...” Frank couldn’t say it. Since Mikey was taken, Frank had never been able to tell himself that Mikey was dead. There was a small part of him that wished and hoped that Mikey would be found somehow. Maybe he gained superpowers and fought the vampires off and was now lost in the forest. Or maybe it wasn’t even a vampire that Mikey had just broken out of his home by jumping through his second bedroom window and ran into the woods to live like a caveman. It was unlikely, but possible.

Gerard just hummed in agreement and the pair fell into silence again. Frank had never liked silence before and would often ramble about something or another to fill it, but lately he had no energy or desire too. Besides, being silent with Gerard wasn’t that bad. It was comfortable. Just feeling Gerard’s presence close to him was enough to fill the void that silence made.

The Priest clamped a hand on Gerard’s shoulder, fingers pressing against his bony frame. “I am very sorry about Michael, Gerard. Please take as much time as you need before coming back to work.” Gerard just nodded in response and the Priest went on, climbing the stairs to his chambers in the attic of the church. Frank had seen Gerard around before working in the congregation, but it was still odd to him. Gerard seemed more like the type to hole himself up in his basement painting than out in the town performing religious rituals and keeping the church tidy.

Gerard didn’t say anything as he just stood up abruptly, charged down the alley, and swung open the wooden doors with a surprising amount of force. Like a lost puppy, Frank followed him. He figured that Gerard was heading home to smoke and lay on his bed or on the couch until he melted into the fabric. He didn’t seem to mind Frank following him or at least he didn’t say anything to him about it. Their relationship was somewhat complicated, they got along great but thinking of calling Gerard his friend seemed weird, even if his mom said it so casually. But Frank wasn’t sure there was any other word to describe someone who he hung out with all the time because being alone and being left with his own thoughts was too much. At the same time, Frank felt guilt in the pit of his stomach whenever he called Gerard his friend. He felt like he was replacing Mikey with Gerard, which he wasn’t but he still felt that horrible guilt.

“I used to have a bunch of old books on vampires you know.” Gerard said, breaking the silence. “They were from when vampires were an idea rather than actual beings. I used to read them all the time and wonder if vampires in the books were how they were in real life. Maybe we were just judging them for wanting food and maybe if we donated blood to them then we would all be able to cohabit.” Frank furrowed his eyebrows, wanting to interrupt but letting Gerard continue. “There were even love stories. Humans would fall in love with vampires and while there was the obvious drama most of them remained happy. In one there was even a half vampire baby, my mom told me that the series used to be popular when she was younger.” A half vampire baby? That didn’t even make sense to Frank, vampires were technically dead so how can they procreate? Nonetheless, he continued to listen as he realized this was the most that he had ever heard Gerard speak. Gerard ran a hand through his messy black hair, it stayed standing even when he removed his hand. “But, they’re not like that. They’re not like that at all. They’re just soulless murderers.” His voice grew quieter, and held a hint of anger towards the end, his eyes fixed on the ground as he stopped walking. “I mean, why else would they literally take the only-” His voice began to crack and he shook his head. Frank couldn’t see him but the hand Gerard brought to his face was most likely to wipe away tears. “Mikey was all I fucking had left.”

Frank’s mouth went dry. “Well, yeah, I guess. I mean, I get it. Mikey was my only friend I fucking miss him.” Now Frank felt like he could start to cry too. “They’re just assholes I guess.” While he was still puzzled about the whole half-vampire baby thing, he also felt like he should comfort Gerard somehow. Awkwardly, he reached out and placed his hand on Gerard’s bicep. “I wish I could say something to actually help, but this just really fucking sucks.” Gerard didn’t say anything, but he didn’t move away either. Frank dropped his hand when it began feeling too awkward, offering a shy smile before beginning walking towards the Way house, Gerard following shortly behind.

The Way house looked the same as always, brick covered the front of the house, and the sides were lined with wood. There was no grass in front of the house, and Frank knew that the grass in the back would be overgrown and patchy from neglect. He could remember when he first went to Mikey’s house when they were only about 10 years old. His mom had been around then and she was a beam of sunshine in this dull town. She would always fuss over her boys, making sure they had showered and were keeping up with their schoolwork, and she would make cookies whenever Frank came over. Double chocolate chip oatmeal made with soymilk (she knew how easily dairy upset Frank’s stomach), just thinking about them made his stomach grumble. 

The basement was as cold as always, and the smell of cigarette smoke overwhelmed Frank’s senses. Normally he would have been repulsed but after starting to smoke the smell just made him want to light up a cigarette. Thankfully Gerard was in the same boat because he reached for the pack of smokes on the table next to the couch and handed Frank one. They lit their cigarettes with matches and just sat down on the worn-out couch. Frank could have never imagined how good it would feel to have smoke in your lungs and nicotine in your blood, even if it meant occasionally coughing so much you felt your lung would come up your throat.

“I’m going to show you something, but you can’t tell anyone.” Gerard said as he got up, not even waiting for Frank to respond. It’s not like Frank had anyone else to tell any of Gerard’s secrets to. Gerard went into his room and came out with a jug that was the size of Frank’s forearm. The jug was black, and he could hear liquid sloshing around. “It’s moonshine. I used to make it all the time with shit I stole from the McGreggory’s farm. It doesn’t taste the best but it makes you feel better.” Gerard then put the jug to his lips and took a large gulp of moonshine. Frank could smell it from his spot on the couch and wrinkled up his nose. “Fuck.” Gerard coughed after he swallowed, his face scrunching up in disgust or pain. Maybe both. “Here.”

Frank knew that he shouldn’t be drinking moonshine because besides the fact that it was illegal, if his mom ever found out she would forbid him from going over to Gerard’s ever again. Before he could even weigh out the pros and cons he had taken the jug from Gerard and took just as big of a sip as he did, which turned out to be a bad idea because he only managed to swallow half of it before the other half came back out his mouth and nose as he launched into a coughing fit. “Oh my fucking God this is fucking gross and it fucking oh my God-” All the way from his tongue to his stomach felt like it was on fire. He could taste a faint hint of corn but it mainly tasted what he assumed bleach would taste like. It was so gross and it made him want to throw up.

Gerard just laughed at him and took another swing, laying the jug on the table before sitting back down on the couch. “It’s not that bad when you get used to it, and it’s fucking worth it. It makes everything 10 times better.” Frank somehow doubted it, but he also trusted Gerard so once he was able to breathe properly and did not feel like he was going to lose all of his stomach contents on the worn-out couch he took another, albeit smaller, sip.

This time, the moonshine didn’t burn as much, and Frank didn’t even cough afterwards. It still tasted nasty though. “Do you drink this often?” Frank took a draw from his cigarette and flicked some ashes into the ashtray which was stained black from use. He wondered just how moonshine was supposed to make him feel better.

Gerard paused, then nodded. “I used to drink it a lot when I was a teenager, but I stopped for a while until my life decided to go to shit.” He took another swing and Frank could begin to make out a slight flush to Gerard’s cheeks. “I just found this yesterday, I completely forgot I had it. God, I never realized how much I missed being drunk.” He took a larger sip this time before offering it to Frank again.

The pair sat and drank for a while, and Frank found the taste didn’t bother him as much after his 4th or 5th sip. He didn’t know if he was acquiring a taste for it or if he was too drunk to notice it tasted bad. Gerard was drunk too he was slurring his words as him and Frank were in one of their normal discussions.

“Honestly, I don’t know. It didn’t make much sense to me in the science aspect of it either.” Gerard waved his hand in front of his face.

“So was it like a skin condition? Or was it a side effect? It had to be something! She had to explain something!” 

Gerard groaned. “I have no idea Frank, it’s just what the book said okay? They sparkle in the sun! That was it. If I had the books I would give them to you.”

Frank huffed. He couldn’t help but bring up the old vampire books that Gerard had read. He was curious (especially about the half vampire baby) but it didn’t seem like any of his questions were being answered, instead they were only raising more questions. “What did you do with the books?”

“I burned them.” Gerard’s face turned serious and his eyes stared straight ahead at the wall, seeming to focus on nothing in particular. “Who would wanna read a fucking love story between vampires and humans when real vampires, not those sparkly ones, are just soulless mother fuckers.”

Frank laughed a little too loudly. “Yeah that sounds messed up.” He then sighed as a heaviness came over him. “I really miss Mikey.” He murmured before he even realized he was saying it.

“Yeah.” Gerard sighed too and Frank leaned against him, his head on his shoulder. “He could be annoying sometimes but really he was the best friend I ever had. I feel like he was the only one to really understand me.”

Frank nuzzled slightly into Gerard’s cardigan which he was pretty sure used to be Mikey’s. While the stench of Gerard’s cigarettes hung to it, Frank could pick out the tolerable BO that Mikey always reeked of. “Same here man. He never judged me or any of the stupid shit I did.” And believe Frank, he did a lot of stupid shit.

Gerard chuckled a little. “Yeah, he never even judged me when I told him I was into dudes.” Frank sat up, clearly, he was not expecting Gerard to say that. “W-Well I’m into girls too… it’s just-”

“I’m gay.” Frank didn’t know why he decided to tell Gerard his deepest darkest secret. He had hidden it from everyone that he was gay, even Mikey. He never wanted to make anything weird around him. Being gay in such a religious community was frowned upon, hell, he heard stories of people being shunned because of it. He knew his dad would completely disown him, his mom would try and push him back into the closet and make him marry a woman. 

“Oh.” Gerard’s eyes widened at Frank’s confession. Frank just stared at the floor trying to swallow the lump in his throat. “I don’t care.” He relaxed next to Frank, shifting a little so he could look directly at him. “I mean, like it’s cool that you’re gay. Not like cool cool but.” He shrugged. “I don’t judge you for it. Obviously, I mean I’m into dudes too-”

Frank cut him off. “But you’re also into girls, it’s different for you.” Gerard could fake being straight for the sake of the town, Frank wasn’t sure if he could.

“That’s not the point.” He waved away Frank’s concerns like they were nothing. “You know before this whole thing happened gay people could get married and have kids and stuff.” Gerard tucked some stray hairs behind his ears. “But when vampires came people turned to religion to help and well, they became more stuck up and shit and began saying being gay wasn’t okay again.” Frank wondered what that was like, being able to have a boyfriend without worrying about being thrown out of the town. 

“I wish the vampires never came in the first place.” He murmured as he leaned back against Gerard. Gerard gave a hum in agreement and let Frank lean against him. They both fell into a silence and swapped the jar of moonshine back and forth until it was empty. “Ya know…” Frank felt way more drunk now. “We should kill ‘em. The vamps I mean.”

Gerard scoffed. “Not likely. We’re not exactly the type of guys to be killing vampires. You’re barely passing five feet tall and you might weigh a hundred and ten pounds, and I don’t fight. I don’t like it.”

Frank pouted slightly. “I’m a lot stronger than I look, you know.” He mumbled, before returning to his usual loud self. “Besides I don’t need to be tall when I have guns. A little pew pew and they’re dead.”

Gerard laughed loudly at his sound effects. “Pretty sure laser guns go pew pew not actual guns Frankie. Besides, we can’t just take a few guns and go out in the woods to kill some vampires. It’s suicide.”

“So?” Frank moved away from Gerard and pulled his knees underneath him, placing his hands on his knees. “We can get more supplies! My dad has a shit ton of weapons we could use and I could train you.” For some reason, killing vampires sounded like a brilliant idea. His inebriated mind pictured him as a hero, the man who would go down in history to destroy every vampire, even baby ones if those existed. Then, none of his friends or family would ever be hurt again. Oh, and you also can’t kick the super awesome vampire slayer out of town just because he is gay, right? It made sense to Frank. Maybe he could even have a statue of himself in the middle of town. 

Gerard looked to be in deep thought. Frank leaned forward slightly, as if being any closer to him would change his mind. “Yeah, okay.” Gerard nodded his head and stood up from the couch, swaying slightly as he tried to find his balance. “Fuck it, we might even find the mother fucker who killed Mikey.”

Frank could feel the alcohol coming on stronger, he stood up as well, he wasn’t sure why but felt like this moment warranted a high five or a handshake or a hug or something. “Fuck yeah we’ll be awesome ass vampire hunting mother fuckers and save the town and, uh.” He lost his train of thought. He really should not have drunk as much as he did. “Uh… uh oh.” His body bent halfway at his waist, black hair framing his face as he proceeded to lose his breakfast, lunch, and supper all over the concrete floor of the basement. Frank really should have taken it easy for his first-time drinking.

-

The rest of the week went in a haze filled with booze and nicotine. Nearly every night Frank and Gerard would get totally shitfaced and Frank would spend the night. It became so much that his mom would drop by in the afternoons (usually when Frank was nursing a killer hangover) to check up on him because he never came home anymore. He tried explaining it to her that Gerard would be really lonely without him around, totally not because he and Gerard were still planning on being rad vampire hunters. Every night they would plan, Frank had already stolen two small handguns and Gerard had managed to sneak some holy water from the town supply. It still felt so surreal, but it also helped Frank take his mind off of Mikey. Using a town map, they were able to find weak parts in border security (which was actually kind of terrifying given who could come in), knowing that between 10pm and 1am Rick always went home for dinner which for some reason always lasted 3 hours. Rick was a senior member of the congregation, a skinny middle-aged man who still lived with his aging mother. Not by choice.

“Can you fight?” The duo were lying on the cold basement floor, both beginning to sober up as the morning sun came peering through the half-sized window. Neither knew how they came to be on the floor, their heads were right next to another, however their bodies pointed in different directions. 

Gerard turned his head and narrowed his eyes at Frank. “What do you mean?” He could feel the pounding headache forming behind his eyes. He wanted to grab the bottle to prevent his oncoming hangover.

“I mean,” He sucked in a breath, turning his head to meet Gerard’s eyes. “Like if a vampire or a bear or an alligator-”

“There are no alligators here. We have snow, Alligators don’t live in snow.” Gerard interjected.

“Whatever that’s not the point.” Frank snapped. “Could you fight them?”

“Why would I need to? I’ll have my holy water that is enough to tear their skin off their bones.” With the morning light peering in on Frank’s face, Gerard could really admire the color of his eyes. Hazel. A soft amber colour close to his pupil and fanning out into the green which got darker towards the outside. Damn. He was actually really pretty.

Frank scoffed at him and for a second Gerard wasn’t sure what was happening. It took him another second to realize that he had been staring deeply into Frank’s eyes just a few moments ago. “So what if you run out of holy water and a vampire comes charging after you and I’m dead beca-”

“You’re not going to die Frank!” His head throbbed in retaliation for speaking so loudly.

“Hey, come on, this is hypothetical, but like if I died and you had to fight a vamp by yourself, could you?”

Gerard hummed, turning his head to look back up at the popcorn ceiling. “Probably not. I don’t fight, I try to be peaceful.”

“I saw you deck Mikey across the face because he took the last of your grandma’s cookies.”

“Mikey isn’t fucking peaceful.” They both laughed, and before they could go deep thinking about Mikey Frank spoke up.

“So, uh, yeah.” He stammered as he got up on one elbow. “You’ll at least need a weapon then. I have a spare stake at home I can give to you. Well you don’t really have a choice you can’t go fighting vamps with just a bit of water.” Gerard had refused a gun from Frank when he offered, so a stake was the only viable option.

Gerard screwed up his nose. “I guess so. I’ll just bring enough holy water so I don’t have to use it.”

Frank got back down, his head resting in his arms. “Won’t people notice if too much is gone? I mean, you know what happens when people get greedy…” His voice tapered off at the end. The town wasn’t very forgiving to those that stepped out of line. Living in such dangerous times required strict rules according to the town council.

“Listen, I’ll be fine.” Gerard just waved off all of Frank’s concerns. “I’m not dumb enough to get caught.”

Frank frowned but accepted the answer, his head beginning to pound. He let out a long whine, cradling his head now in his hands. “Oh my fucking god, ugh, I’ve forgotten what a hangover feels like.” You can’t become hungover if you’re never sober enough, and for the past while neither Frank nor Gerard had been sober enough to experience a hangover. 

“Myeah, shit sucks. Shut up though, you’re too loud.” Gerard squeezed his eyes shut to prevent light sensitivity. 

The pair then slept on the cold concrete floor, side by side. Tonight, would be the first night that they would go out in the forest looking for vampires to kill. Frank still had to get Gerard a stake from home, but after that they were completely ready. It should have frightened them, it should have made them restless and unable to sleep but both boys accepted whatever decided to come their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it's a little slow right now, it'll pick up eventually I promise. Anyways, thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: The idea for this story came to me while I was high and listening to bullets. Anyways, criticism and feedback welcome.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


End file.
